Harry Durham will return from the Cheltenham Festival at Queen’s Gambling following a successful re-emergence at Kempton on Monday.
The five-year-old was very impressive with two wins at Cheltenham’s Bumper Sphere for Oliver Sherwood, who has since retired from the development squad and become Durham’s assistant.
Queen’s Gamble was disappointed at the Champion Bumper in March but bounced back with a debut victory in the hurdles at Warwick in May before being given a summer break and changing stables.
Jonathan Burke, ridden by Watch Racing TV, was the 8-13 favorite in the Novices’ Hurdle and had no trouble winning by two and a quarter lengths from Classic King.
Durham said: “That was good and she’s obviously a good filly. When you take a horse to a race that isn’t fully wound up, I always get nervous that the horse won’t catch up. With Johnny (Burke) I said last night that if she was as good as expected, I wouldn’t need a full winding today.
“She jumped much better today. Oliver herself will tell you that before she ran at Warwick, she wasn’t out on the grass because she was a bit fast, so she wasn’t the best prepared, but… There are no problems with her jumps.
“She jumped really well today, and the last two times when Johnny asked her to go up in length, she jumped really well. He did it.”
Paddy Power has reduced the odds for the Queen’s Gamble filly Novice Hurdle from 16-1 to 14-1, with Durham confirming the Grade 2 contest is her ultimate goal.
He added: “The filly novice hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival is absolutely made for her so one day in March is when we need to get her right.” She’s won at Cheltenham before, so we’ll just have to plan for her there.
“We don’t want to over-race her beforehand, so we’re going to talk to the owner and come up with a plan.”
Durham set up double time with Paul O’Brien’s 2-1 favorite Dargiannini in the Pertemps Network Handicap Hurdle.
Nicky Henderson’s East India Express impressed in the Novice Hurdle on Racing TV.
The Milan gelding finished five lengths clear of his rival in the hands of jockey Nico de Boinville with a 10-11 shot that complemented his successful debut in the Bumper at this venue in February.
Henderson said: “After he won here I tried to get him ready for the Newbury Bumper, but then he had a recurring cough for months and I couldn’t get him out again.
“It took a little bit of effort to get him there. He wasn’t trying to show anything at home, so he was probably second string here last time.
“He’s got a lovely temperament and a lovely attitude about it, but he’s only four so he’s still a baby.
“He jumped really well. We all had to work a little hard on his jumps and it wasn’t the most natural thing for him, but he’s been getting the hang of it over the last few weeks and there was very good at it. The reason I went on this trip was to give him a little more time to figure it out.
“I don’t think he’s too young to go any further and not fast enough to come back on the road. So the good old Henderson tactic is if you don’t know what to do, just stay in the middle. is.”